A project backed by the Chinese government launched the first vessel of a massive floating aquaculture fleet with a projected revenue of CNY 35 billion (€4.9 billion/$5.5 billion) by 2035.
In what the backers are calling the future of aquaculture and an alternative to offshore farming, the company's 100,000 deadweight ton (DWT) fish farming vessel launched Jan. 25 in Qingdao.
The Conson No. 1 will be delivered by the end of April 2023, after outfitting and undergoing sea trials.
The vessel was jointly developed and built by the Qingdao Conson Development Group, the China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), the Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) and the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.
The 249-meter long vessel has an aquaculture area of 80,000 cubic meters.
Conson No. 1 will mainly focus on breeding yellow croaker, Atlantic salmon and grouper, the companies said.
“The vessel will create a new mode of intelligent aquaculture, which can effectively prevent the pollution of offshore aquaculture and the risk of far-sea aquaculture,” the group of companies said in announcing the launch.
Qingdao Conson Group plans to form an open-sea aquaculture fleet with total tonnage over 10 million metric tons, and an annual output of more than 700,000 metric tons of fish.
